A much needed update...

I haven't updated in a while. We've had so much going on. Within the past 3 weeks or so my mom and I have bought a monogramming store. Well, I should say my mom has bought a monogramming store and I'm running it. Some of you may know that my mom used to own Monograms and More. She bought it while I was in high school and ran it for about 5 years. Well we've had the "itch" to get back into it and the opportunity came for her to buy Monograms and More back. So we jumped on it! Mom decided to keep her job and let me handle the day to day duties. It has been a lot of work, and I'm still learning and trying to figure out what I'm doing, but it's getting better. Needless to say, I have not had time for anything. Every spare moment I have I try to spend with my family. The boys come with me to work everyday. They have their own little "corner" with toys, tv, and other stuff to keep them entertained. Although, they would rather be playing in all the clothes out front. It's going to be a challenge to keep them entertained all summer. Gabe is going to a couple VBS's this summer and friends and family have been very helpful in coming and taking them to play for a few hours. We really appreciate everyone's help. But it will be nice once school starts back up in September. Gabe will be going to school 3 days a week and Ryan will be there 2 days a week.

Last week Matt was off work so that I could have a "kid free" first week at the store. He was extremely helpful. When I got home Friday afternoon he had started painting the baby's room! You have to understand that this is a BIG deal because my husband HATES to paint. I was so proud and so excited. With it being my first week at the store I had been stressing all week that I was never going to find time to start on her room. And then over the weekend he pulled up the carpet and laid wood floors in her room. It looks so good! Hopefully I'll be able to go get her bedding this week and we can get her bed and changing table set up next. I'm not sure if I have posted this or not but we have officially decided on a name. The baby girl's name is going to be Kate Olivia. It's so cute to here the boys call her Baby Kate.

Gabe has started to play t-ball! He's only had a couple practices and his first game was rained out last week. He has another game this week so hopefully it won't rain. It will be very interesting seeing how they all do.

Here a few pictures I've taken of different activities we've been doing. With me working so much I haven't really been able to take pictures as much as I would like. 1st t-ball practice
a day at the zoo
playing in the water...

A Mother's Day Video

I haven't posted in a while. We have been keeping pretty busy around here. The end of the school year is always a busy time. The boys had their spring program at school last week. It turned out so cute. Gabe was a little ham and sang louder than everyone else. Ryan was shy and sucked his thumb the whole time, and he's not a thumb sucker. And next week is our last week of school. I can't believe how quickly the year has flown by. I've been busy making invitations for a couple of my cousins. Kylie's birthday was back on April 19th and we had a karaoke party for her. I also did Maddie's birthday invitation. They both turned out pretty cute! Here's Kylie's invite. I'll post Maddie's after her party.I've also gotten hooked on Ebay. I started out trying to sell some of the boys old clothes. But that just takes so much work! So I started browsing around and found some really cute clothes. It's much easier to buy than it is to sell on Ebay. I've gotten the baby some really cute stuff though! I think I'll just save the boys clothes for the Just Between Friends in September. I usually sell quite a lot at that.
Tomorrow for Mother's Day we'll be going over to my parents after church for lunch. Hopefully it will be a nice relaxing day. And in honor of Mother's Day here's a really funny video. These two guys remind me of how my boys might act when they get older. The guy in the tie reminds me of Ryan because he just does things to make his brother mad. And Gabe is pretty obsessive when it comes to doing things the "right way". I laugh every time I watch it. Hope you enjoy it!

School Pictures

Just thought I'd share the boys school pictures. I love the pictures they take at preschool, because they don't do the traditional fake background. I thought these turned out pretty good. Ryan is halfway smiling and Gabe is being a big cheese!

"God In There?"

Last night we had parent/teacher conferences at our school. Our preschool is one of the few in the area that have parent/teacher conferences. I teach a great group of kids whose parents are really involved. It's nice seeing parents be so involved in their child's life. In between meeting with the parents of my class I met with Gabe and Ryan's teachers.

Gabe is doing great. He has "mastered" all the skills they tested him on. He can identify all his letters and write most of them. His teachers were very impressed by this saying that there were very few in his class that could do that. I thought that was odd because he's known his letters since he was 3. He also can identify all his numbers and his shapes. He even knows what a pentagon and a hexagon are. His teachers were really surprised at this because they haven't really worked on those shapes. I was telling Matt this last night while we were in bed, and we got into a debate over what the difference between a pentagon and a hexagon were. He thought a pentagon had 4 sides and a hexagon had 5 sides, and I said a pentagon had 5 sides and a hexagon had six sides. I actually had to get out of bed and "google" the shapes to settle the debate. It was pretty funny! Oh and I was right, by the way! :) So Gabe is doing great in class and we're so proud of him!

Pentagon

Hexagon

I also talked to Ryan's teachers about how he's doing in school. You have to know that at the beginning of the year, I had serious doubts about how Ryan was going to do at school. He cried every time I dropped him off. If he ever saw me he would start crying. And he barely talked. He is a completely different child now. He participates in class, he loves to sing. And he's so excited to go to school. He loves his teachers. I have to say, that his teachers are the best! They are so patient and they really really love those kids. So at the conference his teachers told me he was doing great. When they tested him on his skills he really wasn't interested. His new answer for everything is "I no no" (I don't know). So he didn't really do well on his evaluation, which his teacher and I aren't too concerned about. He's only two! Anyway, she was asking him his shapes when she pointed to a heart. He wouldn't tell her what it was so she told him, "It's a heart." And this is the part that absolutely melts me. He looked up at her and said, "God in there?" Is that not the sweetest thing you've ever heard?!? His teacher said she just about lost it when he said that, and I had tears in my eyes when she told me. He is so precious!

A New Room For The Boys...

We moved the boys into the same bedroom this weekend. They're both sleeping in Ryan's room. The first night went really well. They were both very excited to sleep together and they fell asleep pretty quickly. They were so cute!

The next couple nights weren't as smooth as the first night. Last night it took them about an hour to put themselves to sleep. In the meantime, they pulled all the covers and sheets off their beds. I really wanted to get this process started as soon as I could, so that they would be used to it by the time the baby got here. Eventually we'll be getting them a bunk bed to save space. Right now all their toys are in Gabe's old room and it makes a pretty nice playroom.

I've also got a new product on my website. They're gift tags and I absolutely love them! We go to lots of kid birthday parties and I feel like I'm always trying to find a birthday card to go along with the gift. I had 50 of these little cards printed off and now anytime I need a card I just grab one and attach it to my gift. I'm so excited to use them!!

It's A....

GIRL!!!! Yes, that's right we're having a girl! We're all very excited. Gabe wanted a little sister so bad. He told us he already has a brother so he needs a sister. And he got what he wanted. Matt was excited at first, until we were leaving the doctor's office and we saw a little girl who was about 5 years old. She looked like she was going to a dance recital. She had on a leotard, a big shiny headband, and lots of glitter. Matt took one look at her and said, "This is what I have to look forward to." He's now starting to notice all the accesories girl require, purses, headbands, jewelry. You would think having two little sisters he would be used to this, but no. I am very excited, but I'm a little nervous. I'm not sure I know what to do with a girl. But I'm willing to learn! Well here are a few of the ultrasound pictures.

6th Anniversary

On Sunday, Matt and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe! And we've been together (dating, engagement) for 10 years this August! Wow!! That's a long time! I am so lucky to be married to such a great man. He makes me laugh and just makes my day so happy! He is such a hard worker and a great provider. I'm so lucky to married to such a man who knows what he wants and he works hard to get it. And he's such a wonderful father. He's such a big kid and he loves playing with his boys. I am such a blessed woman. I was looking through some old pictures and thought I'd post a few...

Prom 1999...seems so long ago

Our Wedding Day - April 6th 2002

New Years 2005

Vegas 2007
Vegas 2007